Oil-well apparatus



- June 24, 1930. c, M, EI' AL OIL WELL APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed Nov. 28, 1928 E.M.Hu Tfi. v EMwi LkinSun June 24, 1930. c, T ET'AL L WELL APPARATUS Filed NOV. 28, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II 111/ 11 v 14T1=L KW Wilkin '5 :1 n

Patented J une 24, 1930 UNITED STAT CALVIN M. HUNT AND ROBERT W. WILKINSON, OF BORGER, TEXAS OIL-WELL APPARATUS Application filed. November 28, 19528. Serial No. 322,456.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple apparatus by the use ofwhich oil may be automaticallyraised from a'well without disturbing the sand at'the bottom 5 of the well. The invention provides means panying drawings and will be hereinafterfully described, the novel features being 20 particularly defined in the appended'claims,

In the drawings:

Figure-l is an elevation of the operating parts of the mechanism, the well casing beingshown in section,

the oil-collectingw chamber,

Fig; 3 is an enlarged detail section of a check valve which may be inserted in: the tubing if desired,

30 Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the flow-controlling apparatus which-isprovided at the ground surface, and

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in horizontal section and partly in plan, of a portion of the apparatus shown'in Fig; 4:;

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the well casing which; may be of the usual or any approved form and extends to the bottom of the well inthe usual man- 49 ner. Supported concentrically within the casing is the tubing 2 which-at its :lower end is formed integral withor-permanentlyunited with an enlarged portion 3 -c0nsti-- tuting' an oil-collecting chamber, these parts 'sbeing preferably united by I welding or swaging so that the joint will'be leak-proof, and. interposed between the enlargement or oil-collecting chamber 3 and the casing 1 is a packing 4: which may be of any known or vapproved form, this, packinglserving;to-proa Fig. 2-is an enlarged vertical section of vide a leak-proof-seal between .the-:oi=l-.col-1.- lecting, chamber and the casing whereby; oil 1 admitted to the casing above thepackingc will be prevented from flowing'back into the well. In the bottom ofthe-chamberfiis a check valve 5 which opens-upwardly and. admits oil from the well into the-chamber,- and mounted within thischamber-at one side of the same is an outlet' tube- 6 which" opens through the side of the chamb erabovev the packer &, as shown at 7'. In the 'lower" end of the outlet'tube 6 is aecheck vvalve :8: which opens upwardly.

Atthe mouth of the well, therewis..-provided a head or cap 9 of any approved :form and extending, through thisv cap to enter the upper end of the tubing 2 and connected with the'tubing by an air-tight joint is la: fluid pressurepipe 1O which-iseonnected atits upper end through a. T-couplinglll with an inlet pipe 12 and an exhaust pipe 13. The inlet pipe'1'2 is connected with'anwair' compressor or blower of any approved form" and which has been omitted from thedraw ings as, in :itself, it formsno' part of thepresent invention while 1 the exhaust pip'e'13 may be led to any desired point'and opens i into theatmosphere. Fitted to the inlet pipe 'and'the exhaust pipe are 'casi-ngs 1% each of which rhouses 1 a check valve 15* wherebythe flow through thepipes is controlled and these check valves are'carried' by links or stems-16 rising/ through the cas= ings 1 1 and pivoted at their'upper ends to-a lever 17 whichis 'fulcrumedmidway itsends tubing and-thepipe-10 tomesoape through the exhaust pipe, oil being then admitted to the oil-collecting chamber.

Extending laterally from the head or cap 9is an oil outlet pipe 19 which enters a governor tank 20 at the bottom of the same, and this oil outlet pipe is equipped adjacent the governor tank with a check valve 21 of any approved design which will permitthe oil to flow into the tank but will close when the oil tends to flow from the tank. ithin the governor tank 20 is a loose central rod 22 having abutments 23 thereon near its upper and lower ends, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, and slidably mounted on and guided by said rod is a float 24. A rocking arm or together outwardly from the pipe and fixed to a cross bar 27. At the opposite side of the pipe 10, a similar lever or rocking arm 28 is provided, the inner ends of this rocking arm 28 being pivoted upon the pipe on r the same pivots as the arm orlever 26 and the outer end of the arm 28 being secured to a cross bar 29 corresponding to the cross bar 27. A connecting rod 30 is pivoted to the cross bar 29 and rises therefrom to the lever 17 to which its upper end is pivoted, as clearly shown in Fi s. '1 and 4. Secured upon the pipe 10 at points above andbelow the pivots 31 which support the arms 26 and 28 is a guiding frame 32 which projects laterally to opposite sides of the pipe and comprises mating parallel bars or straps between which the outer end portions of the respective arms 26' and 28 play, as shown in Fig. 5. The outer portions of these guide frames are constructed with arcuate slots 33 bottom thereof is a pipe 36 which extends to a storage tank, and the governor tank and the parts cooperating therewith are prefer-,

ably elevated with respect to thestorage tank so that the oil may flow through the delivery pipe 36 by gravity. Interpos'ed in the delivery pipe'36 adjacent the governor tank 20 is a siphon tube 37 which rises to the-height to which the oil.is intended to rise in the tank and in the outlet side of the siphon is a cut-ofl valve 38 of any approved form and in the delivery pipe between the members of the siphon is a similar 'cut-olf valve 39 whereby the flow of the oil check valves, such as shown in Fig, 3, may

be provided at such intervals in the length of the tubing 2 as may be desirable. These check valves each comprises a nipple 40 threaded through the side of the tubing collar or the upper end of the oil chamber and having its bore somewhat enlarged at its outer end, as shown at 41. A ball valve 42 is mounted in the enlarged bore 41 and is normally held to the seat provided by. the end of the enlarged bore under the influence of a spring 43 disposed between the ball and a stop 44 provided near the outer'end of the bore, as clearly shown in Fig- 3.

It is thought the operation of the apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. The capacity of the governor tank 20 and the oil-collecting chamber 3 should be the same or approximately the same so that, in the operation of the mechanism, when the governor tank is discharging the oil-collecting chamber will be filling and the oil-collecting chamber will be filled at or about the instant that the governor tank becomes empty. Assuming that there is no pressure in the pipe 10 and the tubing, oil will rise past the check valve 5 and 'fill the collecting at the bottom of the governor tank and resting on the lower abutment 23. The oil entering the oilcollecting chamber 3 will, of course, pass into the oil discharge tube 6 and rise in said tube to the same level that it reaches in the chamber 3; If the check valves 15 be shifted so that the exhaust pipe will be closed and the inlet pipe opened, fluid pressure will flow down through the pipe 10 and the tubing 2 and act upon the surface of the oil in the chamber 3 to force the oil out through the pipe 6 into the space between the casing and the-tubing, and back flow of the oil in the casing will be prevented by the packing'4 and by the seating of the check valve 8, it being understood that the check valve 5 will also be closed under the influence of the pressure exerted by the pressure fluid. When all of the oil collected in the chamber 3 has been forced into the casing, the exhaust pipe 13 1s opened and the in-flow of pressure fluid cut off so that oil will be again admitted to ing chamber 3, the float 24 at this time be-' 7 the collecting chamber 3, and this process is continued until eventually the 'oil'reaches the mouth of the well and flows'from the,'

casing through the pipe 19 into the gov ernor tank 20. The pressure fluid is then permitted to flow without further attention on the part of the operator and the oil entering the governor tank will pass under the float 24; and cause the same to rise in the tank. Eventually, the float will impinge against the upper abutment 23 and lift the rod 22, thereby rocking the lever 25 so that the lever or rocking arm 26 will be drawn downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4.. As the arm 26 passes the dead center, so that the angle formed by said arm and the arm 28 is less than one hundred and eighty degrees, the springs 35 will contract so that the arm 28 will be drawn downwardly with a snapping action and the valves 15 will be reversed, the further inflow of pressure fluid being cut off and the exhaust pipe opened so that the pressure may escape. The oil in the governor tank will now flow therefrom through the delivery pipe 86, the flow being controlled by the cut-off valve 88 and induced by the siphonic action.' The float will, of course, descend with the level of the oil in the governor tank and the pressure of the outflowing oil will close the check valve 21 so that further flow of oil into the governor tank will be prevented. 'While the oil is discharging from the governor tank, additional oil will be flowing into the collecting chamber inasmuch as the pressure is cut off therefrom. Then the float 24 comes into contact with the lower abutment 23, the rod 22 will be drawn downward and the levers 25, 26 and 28 will be reversed so that the escape of pressure fluid will be cut off and inflow of the same again established to act upon the oil in the collecting chamber and raise the same to the surface. It will thus be seen that we have provided a very simple direct acting mechanism whereby the flow of oil will be automatically controlled and the oil raised to the surface and stored with minimum effort and cost. The pressure fluid does not flow past the oil-collecting chamber and, consequently, does not reach the sand at the bottom of the well so that the sand is permitted to settle and separate from the oil which will be clean as it enters the collecting chamber. Should the oil be very heavy and its outflow from the collecting chamber at a less rate than the inflow of the pressure fluid, pressure will be built up in the tubing 2 and will eventually overcome the pressure exerted on the ball valve L2 by the oil and the spring 43 so that the valve will be opened and some pressure fluid permitted to escape past the same to mingle with the oil in the casing above the packer 4 and thereby aerate and lighten the oil so that it will more readily flow to the surface. 7

Having thus described the invention, We claim:

1. Oil well apparatus comprising an oilcollecting chamber, a fluid pressure conduit leading into'the top of said chamber, a governor tank, means for conveying oil from said collecting chamber into the governor tank, an inlet pipe leading into the fluid pressure conduit, an exhaust pipe leading from said conduit, said inlet and outlet pipes having a common connection with the conduit, reversely acting valves in said inlet pipe and in said exhaust pipe respectively controlling the flow through the same and the conduit, a single lever fulcrumed between its ends and connected at its ends with the respective valves, and cooperating rocking arms having a common pivot, retractile springs connecting the outer ends of said arms, a connection between one of said arms and the lever, and means connected to the other of said arms and controlled by the outflow of oil for rocking the arms.

2. Oil well apparatus comprising an oilcollecting chamber, means for supplying fluid under pressure to said chamber to discharge oil therefrom, a governor tank, means for conveying the oil from the oil-collecting chamber into said tank, oppositely acting valves controlling the inflow and outflow of the pressure fluid, cooperating rocking arms having a common pivot, retractile springs connecting the outer ends of said arms, a connection between one of said arms and the valves, a float within the governor tank, a lever connected with the opposite one of said rocking arms and operated by said float, and means for limiting the movement of the rocking arms.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

CALVIN M. HUNT. ROBERT W. WILKINSON. 

